Kenilworth Wardens pulled 20 points clear in Division One when they sauntered to a ten-wicket victory over Old Hill while title rivals Dorridge were being trounced by Smethwick.

Wardens had their maximum haul wrapped up well before the scheduled half-distance, their rivals decision to bat backfiring disastrously as they were shot out for 75 in 32 overs.

Skipper Nitesh Patel suffered a first-ball duck that gave James Jordan the first notch on his remarkable 16-8-32-6 analysis.

And although Jared Daniels conjured up some token resistance by scoring 42 off 67 deliveries, not one of his team-mates was able to top double figures, Sitansu Kotak ripping though the tail with 6-4-9-3.

Wardens had all the time in the world to reach their target but, in the event, it took them just 11.1 overs, Nick Seager thrashing six fours and three sixes in his 49 while partner Keith Bell accumulated his 27 at a comparatively sedate rate.

Leamington Spa also enjoyed an early finish as they moved towards mid-table security with their 23-run decision in a low-scoring duel at Ombersley.

The visitors looked in a highly vulnerable position as they were dismissed for 98 inside 34 overs, a total that leaned heavily on second-wicket partners Luke Radford (32) and Richard Swann (20).

Neil Slade spearheaded the Ombersley attack with a splendid 11-5-22-6 return – spin-twin Brett D’Oliveira catching three of those victims to supplement his own 10-2-30-3 analysis.

Openers Ollie Steele (15) and Liam Gwynne (13) made a threatening start to the home reply, but the middle order collapsed against Paul Rowe (17-6-36-5) and Neil Smith (11.3-3-21-4) – Hammond’s 24 the only other double-figure contribution as they were dismissed for 75 to give Spa a full-house 24 points.

Hot-and-cold Berkswell suffered one of their disappointing Premier Division days as they could only salvage three points from their four-wicket reverse at Barnt Green.

Inserted on a troublesome strip. Berkswell were bowled out for 148 two balls short of their 55-over allocation.

Skipper Dominic Ostler’s 50 was the mainstay of that disappointing tally – he put on 35 in a rain-interrupted fourth-wicket stand of 41 with Tom Lewis (20) and added 35 with Jack Cornick (10) before top-edging an attempted pull off spinner edged an attempted pull shot off spinner Zain Shahid.

The home side made a far from confident start as they slipped to 25-2, but as the wicket lost some of its earlier liveliness Nathan Newport (26) and Sam Hain steadied the ship and Hain carried on to finish unbeaten on 65 as Barnt Green reached 149-6 off the final ball of the 45th over.

Coventry & North Warwickshire remain in the bottom two of the Division Two table but they proved that they are moving in the right direction as they collected 16 points from their weather-disrupted home draw against Old Elizabethans.

The visitors claimed their full 55 overs to total 194-9 in the face of fine bowling from Jaspal Phull who finished with exemplary figures of 17-4-46-5.

Third-wicket pair Jonathan Miles (31) and Denovan Ekstraal (41) supplied 60 at better than a run a ball, but the real damage from Coventry’s point of view was inflicted by Jamie Alford who cracked 40 and shared a ninth-wicket advance of 56 with Taylor Pugh (19).

The rain restricted Leamington’s retaliation to 38 overs which looked a feasible schedule when opener Luke Reeves was reeling off 12 fours and a six on his way to a flamboyant 86. But wickets fell regularly at the other end – a 56-run alliance with Harry Horsley (27) the most promising phase – and time ran out with Spa on 169-7.

Stratford-upon-Avon are also heading in the right direction after cruising to a seven-wicket verdict against fellow strugglers Attock.

The visitors elected to bat and made a highly-impressive start as Arsalaan Mahmood and Qamar Khan put on 86 for the first wicket.

Mahmood was trapped LBW by Tom Grundy after hitting 59 off 52 balls and Khan carried on in more circumspect style, finally falling in the final over as he was caught looking for the four that would have given him his century. Waqar Saleem (26) and Mohammed Nadeem Senior (20) were the other main scorers in Attock’s 264-8 as skipper Grundy and Mohammed Sajid took two wickets apiece to back up Aussie Peter Wilson’s 3-51.

Openers Rob West and Jon Price (32) knocked off the first 64 of that target before Peter Wilson joined West to tot up another 66.

West was run out after accumulating his 62 from 96 balls, but Alex Marney added 24 before Sajid joined Wilson to finish the job.

He cracked 52 off 44 deliveries and Wilson finished unbeaten on 83 from 98 balls as they reached 268-3 in 50.4 overs, a result that edges them three points clear of their rivals.